JB Were recently published their latest review of giving in Australia, looking in particular at the trends shown by the NAB Charitable Giving Index, and noting the continuing growth in the number of PAFs registered (now totalling almost 1400). The report can be accessed on their website here

Fairfax have published theBRW Rich Families list for 2015 - covering all the wealthy Australian families not appearing in the BRW Top 200 list of wealthy individuals which they publish each year in May. Top of the list (again) are the Smorgon family, followed by the Wilson family, the low-profile owners of the Reece plumbing chain of stores. The clickable links in the online list reveal a useful short paragraph on each family.

Forbes Asia's Asia Pacific Heroes of Philanthropy list is headed by three notable Australian philanthropists this year, led by Len Ainsworth, and details examples of substantial personal philanthropy from around the region.

And our own list of Australia's philanthropic donors of gifts of $1m or more keeps growing - we've just reached 300 after our latest update, and changed the format to make the list searchable. It's here. If you have anyone to add, let us know!

We'll be talking about prospect research and identifying your potential major donors at Fundraising & Philanthropy magazine's expanded two-day conference on sources of significant funding on 23 and 24 November in Melbourne, Big 4 Fundraising.

Our website list of Australia’s $1m+ donors has grown to over 250 names: the list now includes 10 donors who have given more than $100m in donations, 57 who have given more than $10m, and a further 190 who have given $1m+, as well as a number of estates which are distributing $1m or more each year. You can find the list here on our website Many of those donors will be among the 226,000 High Net Worth Individuals the 2015 Capgemini World Wealth Report estimates can be found in Australia. Capgemini’s World Wealth Report for 2015 (figures for 2014) came out in June, showing continued but slower growth in the world’s population of wealthy individuals, and that for the first time the number of high net worth individuals in Asia has overtaken the number in the USA. Key growth countries are India and China. Australia showed some growth, with the total population of individuals meeting Capgemini’s criteria rising from 219,000 in 2013 to 226,000 in 2014. The report defines a ‘High Net Worth Individual’ as someone who has US$1m or more in investable assets; figures exclude the individuals main residence but do not exclude superannuation. The most interesting feature for our sector is the increasing attention the WWR has been giving to the question of social impact and philanthropy over the last few years. In this edition of the report, they highlight advice on social impact as one of the key things that investors, and especially younger investors, are looking for from their advisors. More on this topic here https://www.worldwealthreport.com/Social-Impact-for-Wealth-Managers You can access and download the 2015 report here

The NAB's latest annual report on charitable giving says thatGiving to charity grew by just 2% over the year to February 2015, down from 10% at the same time last year. Growth slowed in most age groups (except 65+), in all regions and there was significant divergence in the rate of charitable giving growth across charity categories. The slowdown in giving mirrors some key findings from our Consumer Anxiety Reports which shows that Australians are responding to heightened stress by cutting back spending on “non essentials”, including charitable donations. Slower growth in charitable donations has also occurred against a backdrop of below trend economic growth and rising unemployment. Despite these challenges, the average donation size for all charities increased by $2 over the past year to $336 per donor, with nearly all charity sectors experiencing an increase in average donation size.

You can read the rest of their summary hereAnd download the full report here

Some key findings · There are now 1,240 PAFs operating across Australia with a post GFC record number established in 2014. · New South Wales saw its highest ever year of new PAFs and now has 42% of all PAFs. · Family involvement and particularly the engagement of children is proving an important driver for the use of structured giving such as PAFs. This extends to all areas of their operations including distribution and investment decisions and it provides an ideal broad learning environment, often for both generations. · Distributions from PAFs have grown to record levels reaching $251million in 2012 and estimated to exceed a cumulative $1.7billion in 2014. The strong and consistent growth in distributions has highlighted the value of having a dedicated philanthropic corpus through variable financial market conditions. · PAFs continue to distribute around 9% of assets annually, well in excess of the minimum 5% required, with the average PAF distributing around $250,000 each year. · Welfare still dominates as the most popular cause for distributions with a 28% share in 2012 and an estimated total to date of $500m since PAFs began. Health and research enjoyed good gains in 2012 while culture slipped although it still sees support from PAFs well above the proportion seen in broader giving measures. · The overall PAF corpus jumped to $2.9billion in 2012 and with an increase in new PAFs established since, plus financial market gains, is estimated to be currently around $4billion.

BRW has published its list of Australia's wealthiest women; since the demise of the print edition of BRW, access to the website is now free of charge and you can find the full list hereThe list does not include women with inherited wealth, ﻿so for example Gina Rinehart doesn't feature. The BRW says women need to get better at asking for funding for business for more of us to become successful as entrepreneurs

﻿﻿﻿The Australian profiles philanthropist Simon McKeon﻿﻿﻿﻿

"McKeon, who was named Australian of the Year in 2011 for his humanitarian efforts and philanthropy, believes the only way to find real joy and meaning in life is to give to others." Link to the article here

The Philanthropic division of JBWere has produced The PAF Report – Private Ancilliary Funds After 12 Years. You can find ithere on their website. Andrew Forrest has announced an impressive initiative in his work against slavery – ABC news link here

We published a couple of articles this year in Fundraising & Philanthropy magazine about the changes happening in major gift philanthropy: Major Gifts at a Tipping Point? and Women on the rise - just click on the titles to access the articles